


AI Dungeon 2 Presents: Ecco the... Dolphin?

by Sparky_Lurkdragon



Category: AI Dungeon 2 (Video Game), Ecco the Dolphin (Video Games)
Genre: Athena cameo, Canon-Typical Violence, Doctor who cameo, Dog!Asterite, Gen, Neural Net Assisted, Novelization, Out of Character, POV Second Person, The AI Is Not Sure What a Dolphin Is, The AI Keeps Forgetting Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22379875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparky_Lurkdragon/pseuds/Sparky_Lurkdragon
Summary: The game includes:- A story about an orphaned dolphin who has no one left to play with and must search for his family.- The ability to swim underwater and explore the ocean floor.- An original soundtrack by Daniel Lopatin (Frozen, WALL•E).This app was made for educational purposes only!----In which I attempt to lead AI Dungeon 2 through the story of the first Ecco game. The AI Dungeon Master being itself, things quickly veer off the rails into something even more surreal.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	AI Dungeon 2 Presents: Ecco the... Dolphin?

**Author's Note:**

> For the uninitiated: _AI Dungeon 2_ is a text adventure game that is written on the fly by a neural net, in reaction to the player's inputs. You can get more information about it at its website: https://aidungeon.io/
> 
> All of my input is bolded and italicized. As a further brief rundown of how commands work in AI Dungeon 2:  
> * Anything with a ">" in front of it is my input. A blank line with a ">" means I didn't enter any commands, therefore asking the AI to continue generating.  
> * Anything with a "!" in front of it is a request that the AI not put "you" in front of its response to my input. This is generally used to feed it environmental information or cues for NPCs.  
> * Everything else is generated by the AI. The AI does not actually know what words mean; it's just predicting what it thinks should come after my inputs based on its training data. This is one reason it keeps forgetting Ecco is a dolphin or... even quite what a dolphin _is_.  
> * This story was written before the "/remember" command was implemented. This is another reason the AI keeps forgetting Ecco is a dolphin.
> 
> I have made a few minor readability edits like carriage returns and repositioning or adding quote marks.
> 
> "A Horse With No Name" is by America. At one point I fed the AI a line from this song.

**_You are a young bottlenose dolphin swimming around with your pod, catching fish and generally having a great time. One of your podmates challenges you to jump as high as you can. When you do, a sudden storm sweeps through the bay, and when it deposits you back in the water you find that your entire family is gone. You leave the bay to look for them. As you leave your home waters, you see_** a small boat on the shore. It looks like they were trying to get away from something, but what?

The game includes:

\- A story about an orphaned dolphin who has no one left to play with and must search for his family.  
  
**_>_ **  
  
\- The ability to swim underwater and explore the ocean floor.

\- An original soundtrack by Daniel Lopatin (Frozen, WALL•E).

This app was made for educational purposes only!  
  
**_> investigate the human boat  
_**  
A few days later, you arrive at the boat where your family is supposed to be. There's not much there except some food and a couple of bodies. Your heart sinks when you realize that your family isn't here. You start searching for them, but nothing comes up...  
  
_**> ask another dolphin if she felt the storm  
**_  
You turn your head and see a dolphin sitting near the shore. She seems very sad, so you approach her and ask if she feels the storm. Her eyes widen when she sees you, then she slowly nods "yes." You smile and wave goodbye to her before continuing your journey.  
  
_**> ask an orca what he knows about the storm  
**_  
You continue your journey along the coast until you come across a large group of orcas. They all seem to know each other, and they give you strange looks. Then, suddenly one of them speaks up.  
  
_**>**_   
  
He says, "I think we should stay here. We don't want to go too far away from our friends."

Another orcas replies, "We're staying right here!" This conversation continues for quite awhile and eventually the rest of the orcas agree.

"So,"  
  
_**> **_  
  
you say, "what happens now?"

They all stare at you in silence for a moment. Finally, one of them answers, "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait out this storm together."  
  
_**> "The storm that took my pod was much bigger than this."**_  
  
They nod their heads and say, "Yes, that's right. We're going to survive this storm together."

You look at them in surprise. "How did you all come to this decision?"

One of the orcas says, "It's a long story..."  
  
_**> ask to hear the story**_  
  
You stand up and walk over to the orcas. You put your hand on their shoulder and whisper, "Tell me everything that happened."

They all look at each other and nod. One of them begins to tell you about how they came to decide to stay.  
_**  
> listen**_  
  
After hearing the whole story, you sit down with them. You explain that it wasn't really a decision at all; it was just something they had to do. They say that they've been through enough storms before and that they'd rather stick together than split apart.  
_**  
> ask if any of them have seen a pod of bottlenose dolphins**_  
  
They all look around and none of them can remember seeing anything like that creature. The orcas are silent as they try to figure out what you mean by that.

You continue, "Didn't anyone else notice it? Did anybody even care?"  
  
**> say, "Do you at least know of someone else who might have seen them?"**  
  
All of them shake their heads. One of them says, "No, nobody ever does."  
**  
> ! One of the orcas suddenly says, "Wait! Maybe the Big Blue can help you!"**  
  
The orcas are surprised when one of them says, "Maybe the Big Blue can help us."

You look at them in confusion. "What do you mean?  
**  
> ! "You must travel past the Undercaves to find him," the orca says.**  
  
They all look at each other again and then one of them says, "Yeah...we could use his help."

You slowly turn to face the orcas. You realize that they are correct. The Big Blue is very big and he has traveled through many caves before.  
_**  
> swim to the Undercaves**_  
  
You quickly swim towards the Undercave. You reach it almost immediately after swimming there. You feel a little dizzy from the pressure but you manage to get inside. As soon as you enter, you see a large blue sphere floating in mid-air above the ground.  
_**  
> use sonar on the sphere**_  
  
You press your hands against the surface of the sphere and begin to send out sonar waves. After several minutes, you sense an object nearby. It looks like a small submarine so you send another wave toward it. This time, you detect nothing but water and sand below you.  
_**  
> hold breath as long as you can and swim through the underwater cave**_  
  
You hold your breath for as long as you can and swim through the underwater cave. Eventually, you emerge into a vast underground cavern. There are no signs of life anywhere near here except for some strange plants and animals that seem to be trying to eat you.  
_**  
> charge one of the predators and ram it with your snout**_  
  
You charge forward and slam your head into the side of one of the creatures. You hear a growl behind you and then you're slammed back onto the ground.

"I told ya I wouldn't let you hurt me!" You yell up at the top of your lungs.  
_**  
> swim as fast as you can past the carnivorous plants**_  
  
You swim as fast as you can past the carnivorous plants and eventually you emerge into a huge open area. In front of you stands a massive creature with sharp teeth and claws. Its body is covered in scales and its skin is black, making it look more like a vampire than any animal.  
_**  
> try to find a pocket of air far away from the creature**_  
  
You swim away from the creature and swim as fast as you can until you come across a tiny pocket of air far away from it. You breathe deeply and close your eyes, hoping that will give you enough time to escape this place.  
_**  
> swim for the exit to the underwater cave**_  
  
You swim for the entrance to the underwater cave and finally make it. When you arrive, you find yourself in a room filled with dozens of metal cylinders.  
_**  
> use sonar on one of the metal cylinders**_  
  
You press your hand against one of the cylinders and begin to send out sonar waves. A few moments later, you detect something moving about in the room. You don't know what kind of creature it is or where it came from but you need to get out of here!  
_**  
> use sonar to try and detect the creature**_  
  
You send out sonar waves again and this time you detect movement within the room. The next moment, you see a shadow move across the floor just outside of the cylinder. You pause for a second, listening carefully for anything else in the room but nothing comes up.  
_**  
> **_  
  
"Well, there's nothing else around here." You say to yourself. "Let's go."  
_**  
> cautiously swim out of the ruin and towards the surface**_  
  
You slowly swim out of the ruined city and toward the surface. As you do so, you notice that there isn't much water in sight. It looks like all the water has drained away leaving only dry land now.  
_**  
> jump out of the draining pool into the rest of the ocean**_  
  
You leap out of the pool and start swimming towards the sea. You swim along the shoreline until you reach a large rock formation which rises up above the ocean. You stand on top of it and peer down at your surroundings.  
  
The ruins are gone, replaced by barren desert landscape.  
_**  
> ! The ocean is a desert with its life underground and the perfect disguise above**_  
  
You continue to swim through the sand towards the ocean. Suddenly, you feel an odd sensation in your mind. You realize that you're no longer feeling pain from your wounds anymore. This must be due to your mental powers returning after being dormant for years.  
_**  
> dive back into the ocean and swim toward the north pole**_  
  
You swim deeper into the ocean and soon you find yourself in a vast expanse of open water. You swim further and further out until you eventually find yourself in a huge body of water. You look around and see nothing interesting nearby so you decide to head south instead.  
_**  
> ! Strange songs are heard but not understood**_  
  
As you swim further out into the ocean, strange sounds are heard coming from far below you. They sound almost like music but they aren't making any sense to you. You can barely understand most of them though.  
_**  
> take a deep breath and dive deep towards the strange song**_  
  
You dive deeper into the ocean and as you do so, you hear more strange noises. These seem to come from the depths of the ocean itself.  
  
A massive amount of fish appear out of nowhere and surround you. They thrash their heads around wildly trying to eat you before they drown.  
_**  
> power past the fish, ignoring your wounds as you swim deeper and deeper**_  
  
You continue to swim deeper and deeper until you finally find yourself in a small cave. A single light shines inside the cave. You walk over to it and try to focus on the light but it seems very hard for you right now.  
_**  
> ! The voice of a blue whale calls out from the light**_  
  
Suddenly, you hear a voice calling out from the light. You recognize this voice as belonging to a blue whale. The creature begins speaking in a language you don't understand and then suddenly stops talking.

It seems that the light went out when it spoke to you.  
_**  
> use sonar on the place where the light was**_  
  
You turn off your lights and submerge yourself in the water. You begin using sonar to search for the spot where the light was. You quickly locate it and swim out to investigate what happened.  
_**  
> **_  
  
You find that the light had been turned off by someone who didn't want anyone else to disturb them while they were sleeping. You also discover that there's a cave entrance leading into the darkness beyond.

You enter the cave and immediately notice something wrong about it.  
_**  
> **_  
  
There is no sunlight here at all. In fact, the only thing shining on the cave walls is a tiny bit of moonlight. It would seem that this cave has been sealed up for quite some time and nobody ever came here before.  
_**  
> use echolocation to look beyond your eyes**_  
  
You use your echolocation abilities to scan the area ahead of you. You find that there is an opening in the wall which leads into another chamber. This one looks much different than the last one you've seen and it doesn't look like anything you've encountered before either.  
_**  
> swim though to the other chamber**_  
  
You swim through the opening and soon find yourself in a large room with many doors lining both sides of the room. There are several statues lined up along the walls which depict various animals such as birds, fish and even dinosaurs.  
_**  
> ! A voice says into your mind, "I remember you! ...Of course it was you... and it was I who sent you... Now it is clear."**_  
  
The voice continues to speak into your mind.  
  
"Now it is clear..."  
  
You turn around and see nothing but darkness. You have no idea how long you spent in there or if you did, you're not sure since the voices stopped speaking to you.  
_**  
> sing out to the voice and ask where you are**_  
  
You sing out to the voice and ask where you are.  
  
"I am here... I am here... I am here..."  
  
You feel a sense of calmness wash over you and you realize that you have been transported back to your home world. You are still in the same location though.  
_**  
> say, "It's my family! I see them! But they're not really here. How can I find them?"**_  
  
You continue to sing out to the voice and ask how you can find your family.  
  
"They're not really here... They're not really here..."  
  
You feel a sense of sadness wash over you again and realize that your family isn't real either.  
_**  
> **_  
  
You try to find any sort of comfort in the fact that you don't know where they are, but then again, maybe that's why you love them so much.  
_**  
> ! The voice says, "I will help you, but first... you must help me..."**_  
  
Suddenly, the voice begins to fade away and you hear silence once more.

"I will help you," the voice says, "but first... you must help me..."  
  
You begin to wonder what exactly is going on when suddenly a door opens up in front of you.  
_**  
> swim through the door**_  
  
You swim through the door and find yourself in a corridor. At the end of it is a set of stairs leading upwards. You walk towards them and eventually reach the top of the staircase.  
_**  
> use echolocation to look around the room**_  
  
You use your echolocation abilities to search for the source of this noise. You find that the room has been completely destroyed by fire and smoke. The only thing left is a burnt out husk of a building and some rubble from the floor.  
_**  
> ! The voice says, "Atlantis... time machine... my missing globe..."**_  
  
A small light shines above one of the broken windows and you see an old man sitting inside a burning hut. He looks at you and smiles before turning his attention back to the flames outside.

"My missing globe!" he exclaims.  
_**  
> stare at the source of the voice until it reveals its true form**_  
  
You stare at the source of the voice until it reveals its true form. It is a large, black dog with glowing red eyes. Its mouth hangs open as it stares at you.

"What do you want?" it asks.  
  
"I'm looking for my family.  
_**  
>"Where or what is Atlantis? Do you need me to find something there?"**_  
  
"Atlantis... time machine... my missing globe..."  
  
The dog nods and shakes its head. It turns to the fireplace and stands up. As it does so, a flame shoots out of it like a flare and lands directly in front of you.  
_**  
> stare into the flame, which you've never seen because you're an obligate sea mammal**_  
  
As you stare into the flame, you notice that it seems to be emitting a strange blue glow. This causes you to question if it could actually be magical in nature.

"It's magic," you whisper to yourself.  
  
"That's right! That's right!" the dog replies.  
_**  
> swim into the flame**_  
  
You swim into the flame and take a deep breath. You close your eyes and breathe deeply. Then, you exhale and let out a sigh of relief.

"Good job!" the dog says happily. "Now I can get back to eating."  
_**  
> ask the dog how to find Atlantis and its missing globe**_  
  
"How do you know where Atlantis is?" you ask.  
  
"Because I have a map that shows all the islands that make up our great continent. And I found my lost globe while exploring those other islands."  
  
"Can you show me?"  
  
"Of course! Come here!"  
_**  
> follow the dog**_  
  
You follow the dog and soon arrive at a large forest. There are several trees growing throughout the area but they seem to be dead now. A few leaves flutter down off of a branch and fall onto your face causing you to wince slightly.

"This is where we live,"  
_**  
>"I have never seen plants that grow so tall out of the ocean."**_  
  
"Well, that explains why we don't have any food on land. We eat fish and shellfish when we can."  
  
"So you mean we're not going to die out here?"  
_**  
> read the map to Atlantis**_  
  
You look at the map and note that this island is called Atlantis. The name is written in three different colors: red, yellow and green. On top of the map are two lines that seem to go through the middle of it.  
_**  
> point at the place where the lines intersect and ask if that's where the time machine is**_  
  
"Yes, that's where the time machine is," the dog says.  
  
"Okay then, let's go find it."  
  
"We'll come back later," the dog says. "For now though, we should explore some more of these islands."  
_**  
> swim to the sunken ruin of Atlantis**_  
  
You swim towards the island of Atlantis and see that it has been completely destroyed by fire. There is nothing left except ashes and smoke.

"What happened?" you ask the dog.

"Someone lit a big bonfire here to try to keep warm during this cold winter night,"  
_**  
> ! A crystal in the library says, "No! Stop lying to him, Asterite!"**_  
  
The dog looks around and sees that he is surrounded by people who are staring at him with suspicion. He begins to panic and runs away from them.

"Asterite! What are you doing?" one of the men asks.  
  
"Nothing! It was just a simple mistake!"  
_**  
> watch as the dog vanishes**_  
  
You watch as the dog disappears from sight. You feel like you've done something wrong and that someone is watching you.

"Whoa, hold on there, man!" another man says. "He wasn't... what did you call him again?  
_**  
> **_  
  
Oh, yeah, 'Asterite'."

"That's not his real name!" the first man says. "It's just a nickname we gave him because he always had a bit of an odd way about him."  
_**  
> **_  
  
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it isn't his real name," the second man says. "But hey, whatever works for you guys."

"Alright, alright," the first man says. "Let's get back to work."  
_**  
> watch as the men fade from sight**_  
  
You continue to follow the dog until you reach a large building made entirely of stone. Inside the building is a huge statue of a woman holding up her hands.  
_**  
> sing to the statue**_  
  
You begin singing to the statue of the goddess Athena. She seems to enjoy your music and smiles at you.

"I am a goddess of wisdom, justice and war," she sings out. "My eyes can see all things..."  
_**  
>"Can you see where my pod went?"**_  
  
"Can you see where my pod went?" you ask.

"Of course," the statue replies. "I know exactly where it is."  
_**  
>"Tell me, please tell me!"**_  
  
"Tell me, please tell me!" you plead.

"Very well," the statue sighs. "Your pod has disappeared into a portal to someplace unknown."  
_**  
> ! The statue says, "It's a faraway planet called Vortex."**_  
  
The statue nods in response to your question.

"It's a faraway planet called Vortex," the statue says. "There are many strange creatures living there."

You say, "What do they eat?"  
  
"They don't eat anything," the statue responds.  
_**  
> ! "Or, they don't eat anything on their planet. They lost their ability to make food and so feed upon the seas of Earth."**_  
  
"Or, they don't eat anything on their planet. They lost their ability to make food and so feed upon the seas of Earth."

You nod in response to the statue's answer. The two of you walk through the door of a room filled with statues.  
_**  
> look for the time machine**_  
  
You find yourself looking around for something that looks like a time machine. You see several different types of devices, but nothing that fits what you're looking for.

"Maybe this one? It's got wheels on it," you suggest.  
_**  
> sing to the device with wheels**_  
  
You begin singing to the device with wheels.

"I'll be waiting here when you come back, I'll be waiting here when you come back..."

You wait patiently for a few minutes before the statue appears to notice your presence.  
_**  
> **_  
  
"Oh, hello there," the statue says. "Where have you been?"

You say, "I've just been singing to the time machine."

"Ah yes! That would explain why you were here in the first place!" the statue exclaims.  
_**  
> ! The time machine suddenly activates and sends you back 55 million years!**_  
  
The time machine suddenly activates and sends you back 55 million years to the year 2012. You look around as if expecting something to happen, but nothing does.

"Well that was interesting," you say. "How did it work?"

The statue shrugs its shoulders.  
_**  
> swim away from Atlantis and try to find the Asterite's missing globe**_  
  
You swim away from Atlantis and try to find the Asterite's missing globe. You search all over the world, but can't find anything.  
_**  
> try the time machine again and tell it to send you back 55 million more years**_  
  
You attempt to use the time machine once more, but it doesn't work. Instead, you arrive at the same spot where you left off.

"That's odd," you say. "Why didn't it work?"  
_**  
> initiate the time travel sequence**_  
  
You activate the time travel sequence and go back 55 million years. This causes the statue to become very upset.

"What is wrong with you?! What have you done?!" it asks angrily. "Do not touch me or I will destroy you!"  
_**  
> smack the statue with your tail flukes**_  
  
You slap the statue with your tail flukes. The statue lets out a small cry of pain, but continues to stand there.

"Is this how you want to spend eternity?" it asks angrily. "A life spent being sad and angry? Well, I'm sorry about that."  
_**  
> use echolocation to see inside the statue**_  
  
You use echolocation to enter the statue's mouth. You peer inside and see a large hole in the floor leading into darkness.

"This isn't working," you say. "It won't let me get inside."

The statue sighs.  
_**  
> see the missing globe inside the statue**_  
  
You open up the door and you see a strange red orb sitting on top of the pedestal. It looks like an old-fashioned globe filled with holes.  
_**  
> touch the globe with your rostrum**_  
  
You touch the globe with your rostrum and feel a tingling sensation. You then hear a voice in your head.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Who," it says. "And you are?"  
_**  
>"A very confused dolphin. Do YOU know where my family is?"**_  
  
"Yes, yes I do," the statue replies. "I am the ruler of Atlantis and I lost my family because of some stupid mistake. My wife died when she fell down a well. My son drowned while trying to save his friend who had fallen into a pit full of snakes."  
_**  
>"I am sad for you."**_  
  
"No, no, I understand," the statue says. "My son was a good boy and he made mistakes too. He wanted to help his friend escape the snake pits. But he forgot that he was supposed to hold onto him until they could get out of there.  
_**  
>"I am sad to hear that. But maybe we can rescue my family."**_  
  
"No, no, no," the statue says. "He is dead now and he never saw his friend again. His friend died too."

"But...but..." you start to say before you realize that you have said everything that needs to be said.  
_**  
> take the globe**_  
  
You grab the globe and put it in your pocket. Then you turn around and leave the statue behind.

"Thank you," you say to it. "Now I must return home."

You walk outside and look at the sun setting behind the city of Atlantis.  
_**  
> swim back to the Asterite and present the globe to it**_  
  
You swim back to the Asterite and present the globe to it.

"Goodbye," you say. "May you live forever."

You wave goodbye and swim back to Atlantis.

\- CONGRATULATIONS! YOU WIN! -  
_**  
> ! Epilogue**_  
  
Epilogue: You have returned home. Your family has survived Atlantis' destruction. They are happy and contented with their new lives in the modern world.


End file.
